Leader Of Project Spearhead Considers Suing UFC

After refusing to fight Aspen Ladd at UFC Atlantic City, the UFC bought out Leslie Smith’s contract. Now the fighter/ leader of Project Spearhead is considering legal action against her former employers.

Smith while a guest on The MMA Hour discussed that she plans to take legal action against the UFC, following he essential release from the promotion. Smith was set to fight Ladd, but the latter would miss weight by 1.8 pounds. Smith claimed that she would take the fight, but only if the UFC extended her current contract, the UFC would instead cancel the fight and pay Smith her show money and win bonus.

“It’s my opinion that what the UFC did was illegal,” Smith said. “Because they have created a situation where it encourages a climate of fear where the other people in the UFC on the roster are going to be fearful of publicly organizing and standing up for their rights.

“By creating a climate of fear, that violates federal law. That’s the whole point of the National Labor Relations Board and the laws that are in there.”

Smith is consulting a New York labor attorney Lucas Middlebrook, an adviser for Project Spearhead and defended Nick Diaz in a 2015 Nevada Athletic Commission hearing.

“I feel like if I didn’t do that at this point, it wouldn’t be living up to everything I’ve been talking about,” Smith said. “That’s why I couldn’t take the fight once they offered me the $62,000, because then I would be fighting for free. And that’s been my whole point this whole time. We shouldn’t be manipulated by pride. We need to look at ourselves as a business and fight for the large sums of money that we deserve.”